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- NOVEL DISCOVERIES

Tabletop blast device brings traumatic brain injury research to the lab bench

Four University of Rhode Island researchers have developed and tested a cost-effective, easy-to-use tabletop device that can generate pressure waves, mimicking the impact of blasts that can cause neurodegeneration. Their study was recently published in the journal Cell Reports Methods. The results will help URI’s Claudia Fallini and Riccardo Sirtori better study the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases in their lab.

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Nonsurgical treatment shows promise for targeted seizure control

Rice University bioengineers have demonstrated a nonsurgical way to quiet a seizure-relevant brain circuit in an animal model. The team used low-intensity focused ultrasound to briefly open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in the hippocampus, delivered an engineered gene therapy only to that region and later flipped an on-demand “dimmer switch” with an oral drug.

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New nasal vaccine has potential to transform respiratory disease prevention

A research team from Trinity College Dublin has unveiled a new approach to vaccination that could redefine how we protect against respiratory infections. In a study published in Nature Microbiology, the team demonstrate that their nasally delivered, antibiotic-inactivated Bordetella pertussis (AIBP) vaccine not only prevents severe disease but also curbs bacterial transmission—an achievement long sought by vaccine developers worldwide.

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